Kengo Kuma Designs The World’s Most Peaceful Starbucks

Tokyo-based and world-renowned architectKengo Kuma has designed a Starbucks store in Japan that draws on its peaceful surroundings and its proximity to a holy shrine.

The store is located in Fukuoka Perfecture, on the street leading straight to a shrine called Dazaifu Tenmagu, dedicated to a Japanese deity.

The shop’s design is, according to Kuma the “fusion of traditional and contemporary and is made up of natural materials both traditional and modern”.

The design of the interior is meant to resemble the natural surroundings of the Shinto shrine and its parks which Kuma hoped would be seen as respecting the sanctity of the grounds.

Starting from the back of the shop, small square wooden blocks were suspended and connected to form a 3D pattern that moves forward through the space like tree branches, reaching up to the wall and ceiling—to give the idea that the store is nestling a tree.

The shop floor area measures approximately 160 square metres, and can accommodate 45 people.

The design, which carries the influence of traditional Japanese carpentry, is unlike the manufactured interior style typically seen in Starbucks stores.

Despite this, the company’s brand identity still shines through, if not more.